


Brave

by DekuMomiya



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, RWBY
Genre: Gen, Jaune is Kamen Rider Brave, Jaune is a G A M E R, One of my earlier works, Taddle Fantasy, not romance focused
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:29:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29706159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DekuMomiya/pseuds/DekuMomiya
Summary: After winning a weird blue cartridge and a weird green belt at a videogame tournament, Jaune gets to Beacon. At initiation he manages to kill a Grimm but he is injured in the process and decides to die fighting. Just then a scroll call changes his life. Now he must protect the people as Brave.
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc & Lie Ren, Jaune Arc & Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc & Team JNPR, Jaune Arc/Team RWBY
Kudos: 1





	1. Brave

A flaming sword carved its way through a wall as a white and blue knight was looking for his enemy. They had been fighting for about an hour now and it was beginning to take its toll on the knight. Going through the wall he looked at the other side of the street. His target was there, waiting for him.

The green and black fighter was panting heavily, his shoulders were slumped and his legs were buckling. Truly, a sad look on such a fantastic opponent. The knight stepped onto the street and pointed at the fighter.

“It was an amazing fight Cronus, truly, you are my best opponent yet” the knight exclaimed, his voice a little distorted thanks to his helmet.

“I… should say the same to you… Brave” the green fighter replied as he prepared himself to charge at him “But sadly… I have to end the fight now” his feet started to glow with a green energy and he charged at the knight.

“Yes, it is quite sad” the knight replied as his sword started to glow with a burst of white energy. Once Cronus was close enough he jumped to the air and descended towards Brave with a flying kick, but sadly it wasn’t enough. Brave slashed to the air and sent a wave of light towards Cronus, stopping his kick and defeating him once and for all.

-OOOOO-

“And with this Brave wins the ‘Ultimate Climax Heroes’ world tournament” said a voice, probably the presenter, as a blonde teen with blue eyes pulled out his Virtual Reality helmet from his head. He looked at the cheering crowd and raised his fist to the sky, making them cheer even more.

The blonde looked at the screen that was displaying the words ‘Brave’s Victory’. Brave, that was his name in the gaming community. He had started when he was about fifteen years old and it took him two years to reach the world champion level. He picked his name thanks to his first game. Taddle Quest, quite a nice game. The protagonist, Brave, had to defeat an evil wizard in order to save his world. Truly, an inspiration.

“Nice match” said his opponent, an older guy, probably a college student, as he approached him with his hand extended.

“Yeah, it was awesome Cronus” replied the boy grinning as he shook his opponent’s hand.

“Now, would our world champion like to say some words?” the presenter said as he approached him and put the mic close to him.

“Yes actually” the boy took the mic and cleared his throat “Glacia best girl” and the moment he said this the crowd erupted into a heated debate, which, as a prime example of the nice attitude of the gaming community, quickly devolved into a brawl with people shouting things like ‘Ferra best girl’ or ‘Green Knight best ship’. The boy clearly recognized what he started. Glacia was a white haired ice mage which Brave befriended after helping her escape her father, the evil wizard. Ferra was Brave’s best friend, a red headed amazon looking woman. Viridi was Brave’s brother, he wore green and he used two guns. ‘Green Knight’ was referring to the ship between him and Brave.

“It’s time we gave our champion his prizes” the presenter said “First, and obviously prize money” the presenter handed the boy a golden lien card “Six thousand lien for Brave, now, let’s see if he can save the princess with this money” the presenter joked and then picked up a suitcase to open it in front of the world champion, revealing a green mechanic looking thing. It had a pink lever and some holes. Beside the green thing was some sort of blue videogame cartridge. It had the image of a blue knight holding an ice and fire sword. The text in it said ‘Taddle Quest’.

“What is this?” asked the blonde boy.

“I’m glad you asked champ” the presenter said as the blonde boy took out the green… thing and the blue cartridge “This is the new ‘Gamer Driver’ developed by Syrah Industries. It’s a belt that carries a potent game console on it so you can play games on the go. The cartridge is the new remake of ‘Taddle Quest’ for the Gamer Driver.”

“Cool. Look guys I gotta go, I have to catch the Bullhead to Beacon in half an hour” said Jaune as he stored his prizes in his bag.

“Did you really participate on a videogame tournament before your first day at Beacon?” asked ‘Cronus’, probably wondering how he could lose against an idiot like the blonde boy. Said boy just ignored him and ran towards the exit. He needed to reach the Bullheads quickly.

-OOOOO-

Good news, the blonde boy managed to get to Beacon. Bad news, because he ran so much so fast he threw up in the Bullhead and some of it fell on some blonde bimbo’s shoes. Once the Bullhead arrived at Beacon he had ran out of there like his life depended on it. It probably did.

Once the blonde had gotten far enough he heard an explosion behind him and he looked at a beautiful white haired girl leaving a red hooded girl on the floor while a raven haired girl walked away. He decided to approach the downed girl.

“Welcome to Beacon” he heard the girl mumble. She had black hair with red on the tips, a black dress and a red cape with a hood.

“Yeah, I get that feeling” he said as he extended his hand towards the girl, she took it and he helped her up.

“Thanks” she said while patting her dress “I’m Ruby Rose and this is my baby, Crescent Rose” she pulled the red… thing she had on her back and it folded itself into a red scythe.

“Well, that’s a pretty scythe” he said, hoping to mask his fear with awe.

“It’s also a highly customizable sniper rifle” she said with pride.

“Nice… it’s also a gun” _‘A gun that can shoot me literally from the other side of the school’_ was left unsaid “I have this thing” he said as he pulled out his sword “Its name is Crocea Mors, an heirloom, I also have this” he pulled his sheath out and it folded into a shield “It’s easier to carry when it’s a sheath” as he said this he put his shield back into sheath form and sheathed his sword before strapping his sheath on his belt.

“Classics are nice” she said as they started walking “What’s your name?”

“Oh right, I forgot” he said with a sheepish laugh “Name’s Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it.”

“Do they?”

“I-I mean… m-my mom does” he looked away with an embarrassed blush as Ruby chuckled.

“Whatever you say Vomit Boy” she said.

“Vomit Boy?”

“You threw up in the ship”

“It was motion sickness” he said, careful to not say he had to run at full speed to catch the Bullhead “Anyways, please don’t call me that, you wouldn’t like it if I called you Crater Face.”

“Yeah, yeah” she laughed it off “So Jaune, I think I kind of recognize you from somewhere, but I don’t really know from where.”

“Maybe we’ve seen each other in Vale” he replied and they arrived at the Auditorium. Ruby went off to talk to the blonde bimbo from the Bullhead and Jaune quickly got away from her before she saw him. He would have to get to his locker and put his backpack there.

-OOOOO-

 _‘Well this sucks’_ thought Jaune while looking up at the extremely similar javelin which had him pinned to a tree. He struggled as hard as he could and he finally managed to get off from its hold… by breaking his hood. Whoever had done that to him would have to pay.

He looked at the position of the sun and it told him nothing so he took off sprinting towards a random direction.

After about ten minutes of running he heard a growl and barely had time to draw his sword and stab to the direction of the growl before a searing pain came from his stomach. He fell to the floor with a dead Beowolf on top of him, already dissolving. Apparently he killed it in a stroke of luck. He managed to stab it in the neck. The Grimm essence of the Beowolf was seeping into him by his face orifices and the new deep slash on his stomach. He could hear two other Grimm prowling around him, probably waiting to see if he had some fight left.

 _‘So this is how I die, in over my head, with a dead Grimm pinning me down and with my dream broken... No, I refuse! I refuse to die like this!’_ Jaune managed to gather enough strength to move the dead Beowolf away and he dragged his sword out of the Grimm before using it as a crutch to get up while he clutched his stomach so it wouldn’t bleed even more.

He raised his sword weakly and pointed it at one of the remaining Beowolves “I lived bitch” he said and the Beowolves lunged at him. Before they could manage to jump though he heard his scroll ring and time itself stopped at the music.

 _“Excite, Excite”_ he heard and he dropped his sword to get out his scroll. It was kind of rude to interrupt his epic dying moment but he was polite enough to answer.

“Hello Mister Arc, it seems you have found yourself in a pickle” the voice said and how right it was “But don't worry, right now I'm using my Semblance on you and I need you to listen if you want to live.”

“Alright” Jaune said weakly, his head was feeling kind of light.

“Great. Do you remember the Gamer Driver?” Jaune nodded “Good, I need you to envision it in your palm, but for that I need you to stop clutching your stomach.”

“Okay…” he stopped clutching his stomach and he envisioned the Gamer Driver in all his green and pink glory. He looked in awe as it materialized in his hand.

“Nice, it seems you were the correct choice” the voice said “Reach into your hoodie’s pocket” Jaune did that and he felt the unmistakable shape of the blue cartridge from yesterday. He took it out and looked at it “That is called a Gashat, believe me, it will help you. See that button close between the blue and the white part?” Jaune nodded as he put his thumb on it “Good, now, once I stop this call you will automatically press that button. After that you will put the Gamer Driver on your waist in front of you, there are two slots around its center, you will put your Gashat in there and pull the pink lever. And when you do it you must say ‘Henshin’, or else it won’t work. Understood?”

“Yes, but… Why help me?”

“Well, it wouldn’t do to have my Beta Tester dead now would it?” the voice laughed and Jaune was starting to have doubts about this nice sounding voice “Ready?” Jaune nodded as he concentrated his energy on his arm “Good luck mister Arc, don’t make me regret my investment on you… oh yeah, congratulations on your victory in yesterday’s tournament.”

The moment the call ended everything went back to motion as Jaune pressed the Gashat’s button “Taddle Quest!” was heard as a pulse of energy came out of the Gashat, sending the lunging Beowolves away from Jaune. He looked at himself as the pulse passed through him, making him glow in a white light and healing his injuries. He didn’t waste time as he put on the Gamer Driver, and from it a belt extended around his waist. He put the Gashat in the right spot and a voice said “Gashat!”

Jaune took a deep breath in and he pulled out the lever as he shouted “Henshin!”


	2. Initiation

Black fabric in her hand. Javelin in her back. Pyrrha Nikos tracked her future partner. She hadn’t expected her target to destroy his own clothes in order to escape her trap but at least now she knew he was determined.

She had been tracking him for a while now and she now came to a spot on the forest were she heard a scuffle.

She got close to where she heard the sounds and what she saw shocked her.

Jaune Arc was getting up from the ground using his sword, bloodied and beaten. A deep cut stretched across his stomach. His hand was clutching it but blood still poured out of it. In front of him was a Beowolf with another behind him.

“I lived bitch” she heard him say as he pointed his sword at the Beowolf in front of him. She was about to jump in as she saw the two Beowolves lunge at him

“ _Excite, Excite_ ” she heard a ringtone sound and her mind lapsed. She drew her weapon and saw Jaune with a blue cartridge in one hand and a green… thing with a pink lever in the other. He was no longer grabbing his sword or clutching his stomach.

He pressed a button on the cartridge and she heard “Taddle Quest!” as a pulse of energy pushed the lunging Beowolves away. She gaped as she saw a white light coming out of his body and healing his injuries _instantly_. She had never seen an Aura so powerful before.

She saw him put the green thing on his waist and two pieces of fabric came out of it, tightening around his body, making a belt. He put the cartridge in the rightmost slot with another sound “Gashat.”

She saw him take a deep breath and, as he pulled the pink lever she heard him shout “Henshin!”

A blue screen appeared from the belt in front of Jaune. The screen showed some sort of night. As it passed through Jaune she heard some sort of jingle accompanying the screen.

“Taddle Meguru, Taddle Meguru, Taddle Quest!”

She saw the screen pass through Jaune and as it did, pieces of white and blue armor appeared on his body. His chest had some sort of videogamey design with a life meter on the left side of his chest. Yellow cartooney eyes shined through its helmet. If she had anything to say about this armor was that it looked like a video game character. She silently cheered for Jaune in this form, hoping he could kill the Grimm without her interfering.

Turns out, she didn’t have to hope for much. As the first Beowolf lunged at him he simply punched it in the face, destroying it instantly. The other Beowolf tried to sneak behind him to attack but Jaune just wheeled on the spot and kicked the Beowolf in the head, killing it.

Pyrrha watched as Jaune pulled down the lever and took out the cartridge, a sound saying “Gashun”, making the armor and the green belt disappear.

He took a deep breath before he started to… express himself “Wow… unreal… my god… this is amazing… I feel incredible! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I feel great! I can win! I can do this!”

“Are you chanting to yourself?” she asked as she stepped out to greet him. She smiled as she saw him squirm in place.

“Noooo… Did you see?” asked Jaune as he turned to see her, embarrassed if the pink on his cheeks said something.

“Depends. Did I see you chanting to yourself… or killing those Beowolves like it was nothing?” she asked “Speaking of. What kind of power was that? Your Semblance?”

He looked at her for about five seconds “Yes. Yes it was my Semblance” he said hurriedly “Could you maybe keep it a secret though? It’s kind of strong and I don’t want to use it as a crutch, so I won’t be using it in the future even though I just discovered it. Yes. No. I’ll probably need it in the future. I know! I’ll only use it in emergencies. Yes. No…”

She watched him ramble on and on about using his Semblance or not. She could relate. Having a Semblance that literally gives you and edge while fighting others was a difficult thing. It inflated your ego and it made you look… _Invincible_ …

“Jaune” she decided to finally stop his rambling “It’s fine, I won’t spill your secrets” she said once he looked at her. The smile he gave her almost melted her heart.

“Thanks… ummm… s-sorry. What was your name again?” he asked as he bent down to recover his sword and sheath.

“Don’t worry, my name is Pyrrha” she said. As her mother would say, this one was a keeper.

-OOOOO-

_“What could possibly go wrong?”_ He said. _“It’s just a dark cave”_ He said. Well, a giant scorpion chasing them through the forest was wrong.

They had found a cave. Jaune thought it was a good idea to go into the cave. Turns out the cave as the nest of a Grimm. Who could have seen that coming?

After they found it they started running.

They ran and now they had arrived at a clearing with some ruins. They had gained some distance from the giant scorpion.

“What was that!?” asked Jaune as he looked around. They were alone. They walked to the ruins.

“A Death Stalker” said Pyrrha “Do you think this is a relic?” she said as she pointed to a lonely rook piece that sat on a pedestal.

“I think so” Jaune picked it up and stored it in his pocket “Do you think we can take it on?” he asked.

“You would have to use your Semblance” she replied.

Semblance? What was that? Oh yeah, it was whatever excuse he had used to disguise his power “Yeah, I’ll do that” he said as he willed the Gamer Driver to appear in his hand. It did. He heard trees being knocked over and he put pressed the button of the Gashat.

The now familiar sounds were easily mutable to him as he put the Gashat inside the Gamer Driver and pulled the lever shouting “Henshin!” He liked saying that word.

The blue and white armor surrounded him and put itself on his body. He felt way stronger with that armor on. He looked at his side. Crocea Mors had disappeared.

While outwardly he didn’t show it he was freaking out inside. Crocea Mors was gone! He fucking lost his family’s heirloom!

 _‘Wait! Jaune think!’_ a glasses wearing Jaune said inside his head _‘Maybe Crocea Mors has the same properties as the Gamer Driver.’_

 _‘Okay… Should I try to envision it?’_ normal Jaune asked.

 _‘Of course you should you dolt!’_ glasses Jaune shouted. Why did he have to say it like Glacia? Oh yeah, because she was his waifu. He liked white haired girls with bossy attitudes. Just like that Weiss girl from the locker room. He wondered if she was okay. _‘Jaune! Concentrate!’_ glasses Jaune shouted once again.

 _‘Oh yeah, sorry’_ Jaune breathed deeply and willed Crocea Mors to appear. What surprised him was seeing it appear in front of him, with the sheath already deployed.

He grasped the sword and shield combo only to look with shock as they morphed into something different.

The sword turned into some sort of toy-like sword with a fire and ice design. In the handle there was a trigger. Above its handle were two buttons. One with the letter A and the other with the letter B. As it finished morphing a voice shouted “Gashacon Sword!”

The shield turned into a blue shield with white accents. On the inside of the shield there was some sort of circle with a vertical handle on its center. In the middle of the shield there was a hole were the sword could go, just like the sheath form. As it finished morphing the voice shouted “Gashacon Shield!”

“Your Semblance is very… enthusiastic” Pyrrha said with a clearly amused smirk.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh at the guy with a new Semblance” said Jaune as he heard the Death Stalker coming closer “We should go over code names.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because they are cool. I’ll be Brave, you can be Ferra” Jaune replied smiling inwardly. It was just like in the beginning of Taddle Quest. Ferra and Brave fighting a boss.

“What?” she asked. The Death Stalker crashed into the clearing.

“Let’s go Ferra” Jaune said as he charged at the Death Stalker. It charged at him and tried to attack with one of its pincers only for Jaune to roll to the side and attack with his sword, leaving a trail of fire and hitting the Death Stalker’s pincer “Ferra! Attack its eyes! I’ll keep it occupied!”

“Yes, you can do this Brave!” Pyrrha shouted as she shifted her weapon into its rifle form. She took aim and began to take pot shots at the Grimm.

For some reason Jaune felt stronger after hearing Pyrrha encouraging him. The Death Stalker swung its pincer at Jaune but he simply blocked it with his shield like it was nothing. He smiled and charged to its side while swinging his sword, cutting some of its legs and causing it to stumble. Clearly, the shooting at its eyes was a nice idea of the way the Death Stalker was stumbling, missing entirely in some cases, said something.

While Pyrrha was shooting at it Jaune blocked another pincer bash as he retaliated with a swing of his sword, cutting into the pincer and causing internal damage with the fire of his blade. The Grimm recoiled in pain and Jaune took this opportunity to go to its other side and cut into its other legs, causing it to fall.

He noticed a slot on his blade. It was like the slots on his Gamer Driver. He decided to try something. He pulled out his cartridge with a “Gashun” sound and put it into the slot on his sword, making the sound “Gashat”. It started making a swerving sound and Jaune could feel his power fluctuating. He pressed the trigger as he swung at the Death Stalker.

“Taddle Critical Finish!” the usual voice shouted as a flaming attack cut its way through the Death Stalker, destroying it.

Jaune pulled out the Taddle Quest Gashat as it made the “Gashun” sound. He pulled the lever and the Gamer Driver disappeared alongside the armor. Crocea Mors reappearing sheathed by his side.

“Well, that’s that” he said with a really big smile.

“That was impressive Jaune” Pyrrha said smiling “By the way… Why did you give me the code name ‘Ferra’?”

“Oh, because it’s the name of Brave’s friend in Taddle Quest” Jaune said smiling.

“I see. Should we go?” she asked and Jaune nodded. She would have to investigate in order to see who these ‘Ferra’ and ‘Brave’ were.


	3. First Day

“Good morning Mister Arc. I believe you have rested enough to have a talk with me” said Ozpin as he drank from the liquid in his mug.

“Do you sleep?” asked Jaune before yawning. When he and Pyrrha had gotten back to Beacon they took part on a ceremony and Jaune was declared leader of Team JNPR. His new teammates were cool enough. Nora Valkyrie reminded him of a Berserker from a battle royal videogame. Lie Ren… the living version of Viridi _‘Brave and Viridi in the same team. The fangirls must be shaking in their seats’_.

The Headmaster had approached him after the ceremony and had asked him to meet him in his office in the morning. Only problem? He called Jaune at four in the morning.

“Sleep is for the weak Mister Arc” replied Ozpin, probably hiding a smirk behind his mug “Now, I would like you to see this footage” as he said that he pressed a button on his scroll and a screen appeared on the desk. Footage from his fight as Brave against the Beowolves and the Death Stalker played. Once it finished Ozpin looked at him seriously “What can you tell me about that power you wield?”

“Well…” Jaune hesitated “I won this belt at a videogame tournament” he willed the Gamer Driver to appear in his hand “Supposedly it’s Syrah Industries’ new step in gaming. When a Beowolf almost killed me I received a phone call and the world stopped. The voice told me how to transform and I did it.”

“Interesting” Ozpin said while looking out the window “Mister Arc, I must ask you to keep this power a secret for now. Just until we can find out more about this belt of yours.”

“Oh… alright” Jaune said a little dejected. _‘Just when I found something to make myself stronger.’_

“I suggest training more in order to make sure people don’t suspect you entered with fake transcripts” Ozpin said, causing Jaune to go pale.

“You knew?” Jaune asked.

“Of course I knew” Ozpin replied.

“Then why did you let me in?” Jaune asked.

“That’s for you to find out Mister Arc” Ozpin smiled kindly “Now, I suggest going back to your dorm room and getting ready for your first day at Beacon.”

“Yes Mister Ozpin” Jaune said before rushing to the elevator.

-OOOOO-

Once Jaune got back to his dorm room it was around five forty five and the only soul alive was Ren, who had just come out of the bathroom, dressed in his school uniform and with a pink towel over his shoulders.

“Good morning” said Jaune.

“Morning” replied Ren and he went to sit on his bed, grabbing a schoolbook and seeming to read it.

Jaune stood around awkwardly and then went to sit down on his bed. He had already showered and dressed on his combat uniform so he couldn’t stall by going to take a shower.

“So…” he trailed off “Do you like videogames?”

“…” Ren looked up at him “Yes. Yes I do.”

“Do you…” Jaune fidgeted, a little embarrassed “want to play with me?”

“Well…” Ren trailed off, getting up and walking up to Jaune’s bed before sitting on it “I-“

“Oh god…” They heard a voice interrupting them and they turned to see Nora looking at them, grinning menacingly.

“Good morning Nora” Ren said, completely unfazed.

“Good morning Renny” Nora said before grabbing her things and going to the bathroom.

“So what do you want to play?” asked Jaune before getting up and getting on his knees to look under his bed. He took out a big briefcase and opened it, revealing a bunch of consoles and game cases in good quality.

“Do you have Hurricane Ninja?” Ren asked as he looked over Jaune’s stash.

“Yeah. Which one do you want to play?” Jaune asked.

“The first one” Ren replied.

“Ah, you know the value of the classics, a man after my own heart” Jaune said and they heard a commotion in the bathroom.

“Are you okay Nora?” Ren asked.

“Y-yes” she replied from the bathroom “Carry on.”

“Okay” Jaune said as he pulled out a big case from below his bed, opening it and revealing a large television.

“How many things did you bring?” Ren asked.

“I’m a professional, so enough” Jaune replied with a smile and began setting up the television with a console.

“A professional?” asked Ren as Jaune put up the disk on the console and passed one controller to Ren.

“You’ll see” Jaune smiled kindly at him and they began to play.

-OOOOO-

“Ren” Nora poked the boy in the head “Are you alright?”

 _‘To be fair. I warned him’_ Jaune thought as he gazed upon the face-down boy. Jaune had beaten him so badly in the game that Lie Ren simply stood up and laid down on his bed.

“Yes Nora, I’m fine” Ren replied, his voice muffled by the pillow.

“Aight” Nora replied as she turned to Jaune “What time is it?”

“Seven thirty” Jaune said as he looked at his scroll. They had plenty of time to spare and he had already stored his gaming gear beneath his bed.

“Nice, we’ll be able to get more breakfast” Nora replied smiling.

“Yeah, let’s wake up Pyrrha” Jaune said. Frankly, he was impressed by her ability to sleep through his heated game with Ren. He walked up to her bed and shook her by the shoulder “Pyrrha, wake up, It’s already past noon.”

“WHAT!?” she asked as she sat up, with Jaune being barely able to dodge her and not bump heads with her.

“Hey, it worked” Jaune said with a smile as Nora laughed at Pyrrha.

“What is going on?” Pyrrha asked confused.

“We are going to get breakfast, go get ready” Jaune said, getting a nod from Pyrrha before she grabbed her things and went to the bathroom.

-OOOOO-

At eight in the morning Team JNPR had managed to get to the cafeteria. A bunch of students were walking around with trays or eating their breakfast. Team JNPR went their own ways in order to get their breakfast.

Jaune got himself a plate with a boiled egg sandwich and a cup of coffee, then he quickly made his way to an empty table. His team arrived a little later with their breakfast. Pyrrha had a chicken salad, Nora had a stack of pancakes on top of a plate and Ren had a bowl of _oatmeal_.

Jaune liked to believe he was quite accepting. He liked Faunus, he always tried to be a good friend and he respected other people’s choices in ‘best girl’ material. There were some things that made Jaune angry. Vacuan Pizza, bullying, racists, homework, etc. There was only one thing Jaune hated with passion.

“Hey Ren” Jaune said, gaining the pink-eyed boy’s attention “Why are you eating baby food?”

“It’s oatmeal Jaune” Ren replied.

“I know” Jaune said, never breaking eye contact “We have so many awesome food to choose from but you chose _oatmeal_. Why?”

“Because I like it?” Ren replied with a question.

Jaune stayed quiet for a moment “Kind of sad you have no taste.”

Ren looked at him confused but Jaune concentrated on eating the plate of actual food in front of him.

“So… have any of you read our schedule?” Pyrrha asked after a silence.

“He have Grimm studies at nine” Nora replied after finishing her pancakes.

“What time is it?” Jaune asked as he finished his food.

“Eight thirty” Ren replied.

“We should go get our things then” Jaune said as he got up to dispose of his tray.

-OOOOO-

The day hadn’t started well for Weiss Schnee. First her ‘partner’ and ‘leader’ had woken her up with a whistle she quickly threw out the window. Then she had the ‘brilliant’ idea of making bunkbeds, quickly pulling Xiao Long and Belladona into her storm of a personality. And then they had arrived late for their first class.

As Weiss listened and took notes about Professor Port’s brilliant fables she looked around. Her child of a leader was doodling on a piece of paper, Xiao Long was looking at something on her phone and Belladona was reading a book. Truly, an amazing team.

 _‘If I was the leader they would be paying attention’_ she thought as she saw Team JNPR. Lie Ren was trying to take notes with a sleeping Nora Valkyrie using his arm as a pillow. Pyrrha Nikos was taking notes diligently. She wished she was her partner, but that Arc idiot had snatched first, no doubt seeing the opportunity to do so after their conversation at the locker rooms. Not content with that, he had made THE Pyrrha Nikos come in last and was somehow made team leader. Clearly, Ozpin didn’t know what he was doing.

“The moral of the story?” Professor Port said, earning Weiss’ attention “A true Huntsman must be honorable, a true Huntsman must be dependable, a true Huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise. So, who amongst you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?”

“I do sir!” Exclaimed Weiss as she raised her hand.

“Excellent, now Miss Schnee, please go change into your combat attire” Professor Port said and she quickly walked out of the classroom.

-OOOOO-

With Myrtenaster in hand and her combat outfit on she waited until Professor Port revealed her test.

“Go Weiss!” she heard Xiao Long yell.

“Fight well” she heard Belladona say.

“Represent, Team RWBY!” she heard the child scream.

“Ruby, I’m trying to focus!” she admonished the kid, who quickly shrank in her seat.

“Now, you will face a threat from the forests of Vale” Professor Port said as Weiss watched the cage he had somehow brought into the classroom rattle. He brought his weapon down on the lock and the gate flew open, revealing some sort of pig Grimm “A Boarbatusk.”

Weiss dodged with a rapier sweep as the Boarbatusk charged at her. She waited with her weapon ready as the Boarbatusk stared at her.

“Hang in there Weiss!” the child screeched as Weiss charged at the Boarbatusk, making her lose her concentration and lodging Myrtenaster between the Grimm’s tusks. Professor Port probably taunted her but she was too busy struggling to take her weapon back.

“Come on Weiss, show it who’s-“

“You can do it Weiss!” The child was interrupted by the Arc idiot as Weiss suddenly felt a strong energy come into her, letting her take Myrtenaster back, breaking one of the Grimm’s tusks and making it let a screech full of pain.

“Good job Weiss!” She heard Arc yell and she quickly maneuvered backwards in order to cast a Glyph on the ground, feeling that strange energy growing stronger. The Boarbatusk curled itself into a ball and charged towards her. She smirked as the Boarbatusk fell into her trap, touching the Glyph and being sent flying at high velocity towards the roof… breaking it and the Boarbatusk’s back as it fell to the ground, already dissolving into that black energy.

 _‘What?’_ She thought as she looked stunned at her dead enemy. She had just planned to make it fly into the air in order to stab it on the stomach. She hadn’t planned to damage school property.

“Well, I believe we are in the presence of a true Huntress in training” Professor Port said as the class started clapping. The bell rang and she was about to go get changed until she felt something tackle her into the ground.

“Weiss, that was awesome!” the kid said.

“Get off me you dolt!” Weiss said as she pushed the kid away and got up, quickly walking away until she stopped to look over her shoulder “But… thanks for the compliment” as she said that she continued her walk, ignoring the child whooping. Even if she wasn’t a good leader or student at least she was a good fighter. Now she needed to go get changed and find the source of that weird energy she felt.


	4. Fighting the Bird

Jaune sat down between Pyrrha and Ren as he took out his notebook for History class. After seeing Weiss destroy that Boarbatusk he was impressed. He would have to tell her that at lunch today.

“What do you think the professor will be like?” Nora asked from her seat.

“I don’t know… maybe he has good memory?” Jaune replied. “I mean, he teaches history.”

“Oh! Maybe the teacher is a robot!” Nora exclaimed with wide eyes. “A robot has a lot of memory in their data banks and stuff, and it could maybe use Wi-Fi to get into the school’s network and do research as it teaches.”

Jaune looked at her to then look at Ren. The black haired teen was staring ahead towards the center of the classroom, apparently awake. He turned his sight to Pyrrha and muttered _“help.”_

“I don’t think the History teacher will be a robot Nora.” Pyrrha spoke. “Would a robot be actually able to teach? Would a robot even understand what a person should learn?”

“… It would be cool though.” Nora replied.

“Yeah.” Jaune added.

He saw Team RWBY arrive and sit on the opposite side of the classroom, seemingly without realizing they were there. As the bell rang a girl with long ginger hair, green eyes and a black ribbon entered the classroom. She was wearing a green, black and white dress with golden accents, black and golden gloves, and black boots with neon green lines on their side. As she walked to the center of the room she locked eyes with him, seemingly analyzing him before opening her mouth.

“Salutations!” She exclaimed with a wide grin. “My name is Penny Polendina, your new History teacher substituting for Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck. Any questions?” A bunch of hands shot up. “Yes, you.” She pointed at Nora.

“Are you a robot?” She asked.

“Nope.” She hiccupped. “I am a real girl. Any other questions?” She pointed at another student.

“How old are you?”

“I’m 17 years old of mind.” The girl replied as she clapped. “Now then, it’s time to learn history.”

-OOOOO-

Jaune stumbled out of the classroom while dragging Ren by the shoulder, his brain still a jumbled mess. Ren kept muttering under his breath something about _“Dangerous gingers.”_

“Are you okay Jaune?” Pyrrha asked as she gave an unconscious Nora a piggyback ride.

“Are the citizens of Mount Glenn okay? Yeah, me neither.” Jaune replied with wide eyes.

“Right, wrong question. Can you make it to the cafeteria with Ren?”

Jaune looked at the muttering Ren and then at Pyrrha. “Yeah.”

And they made their way towards the cafeteria. Eventually they arrived and went to get their food.

“Hey! Jaune!” Ruby shouted as she stood on the table.

“Don’t do that you dolt!” Weiss shouted equally loudly.

With that Jaune and friends walked towards Team RWBY’s table. Blake was reading, Yang was eating mashed potatoes with a vacant expression, Ruby was smiling with a plate full of cookies and Weiss was eating a salad.

“Hi Ruby.” Jaune smiled at her as he sat at the other side of the table with his team, with Ren and Nora letting their heads rest on the table. “Hi Weiss, you were awesome at Grimm Studies.”

The heiress simply huffed and kept eating her salad, refusing to look at him. He noticed Pyrrha squint her eyes at Weiss, for some reason.

“So… next class is Combat Class.” Ruby commented, making Yang snap of her trance.

“Hell yeah! Something I’m good at!” She slammed her fist on the table, making Ren shoot his head up as Nora jumped out of the bench, crashing into a brown haired tall guy and making him spill his spaghetti on his uniform.

“Hey!” He growled at the drowsy Nora. “That was my food!” He took a step towards her, causing Jaune to do something he didn’t mean to.

He threw a fistful of mashed potatoes at his head, soiling his right cheek as drips of Jaune’s creamy goodness fell towards his shoulder.

Silence fell on the cafeteria.

“YOU!” He roared at Jaune. _‘God dammit me.’_

“What she did was an accident.” Jaune looked at him in the eyes, swallowing his fear. “What _I_ did… was intentional.”

The brown haired brute stepped towards him, only for the bell to ring. “We’ll solve this in combat class.” He announced. “You better not chicken out bitch-boy.” And with that he left with what Jaune assumed was his team.

The blonde looked at a now awake Nora. “You okay?”

“Yeah, thanks, though if he tried something I would have just broken his legs.” The ginger smiled at him. “Come on, you have to go kick his ass fearless leader.” She said before grabbing him by the arm and dragging him out, with a now awake Ren and a beaming Pyrrha. Team RWBY quickly caught up with them.

“So Jaune…” Ruby started. “Do you by any means like Taddle Quest?”

Jaune stilled for a second. “Yes?”

“I see.” Ruby replied from his side before smirking. “Ferra best girl.”

“How dare you?” Jaune glared at the girl… no, child. He glared at the child. “Glacia is best girl by far.”

“Whatever you say Brave.” She stuck her tongue out.

“Wait, Brave?” Yang added. “As in, ‘Ultimate Climax Heroes’ Champion Brave?”

“HAHAHA NO. HOW COULD YOU THINK I’M THAT HANDSOME DEVIL? HAHAHA, FASTER NORA!”

“Aye-aye, captain.” And with that the girl started running while still dragging him, eventually reaching the combat classroom.

It consisted on an arena with rows of benches around it and screens above the arena. Nora dragged him to an empty bench and they sat there, waiting for the rest of their team and Team RWBY to arrive. They did a minute later as a second bell rang.

Out of a door stepped a woman with blonde hair and green eyes. She was wearing a white shirt, black skirt, black tights, black heels and a purple cape. She also had black glasses.

“Good afternoon class, I’m Glynda Goodwitch, the Headmistress and Combat Class instructor.” She introduced herself. “As it is our first class together I would like to ground some rules. Number 1, you may only fight on this arena. Number 2, when I call the fight, you stop immediately. Number 3, you may only spar and train battle tactics after you ask me to. Number 4, victory conditions are dropping the opponent’s Aura to the red, knocking them out of bounds, or making sure they can’t fight anymore. Any questions?”

The brown haired guy raised his hand, dressed in his combat attire. “Can we challenge people to fights in class?”

“Only if the other person accepts.”

“Then I challenge blondie over there.” He pointed at Jaune.

Miss Goodwitch looked at him and then at her scroll. “Mister Arc. Do you accept Mister Winchester’s challenge?”

Jaune looked at his team. Ren looked impassive, Nora looked ecstatic and Pyrrha looked calm. He sighed and got up. “I accept.”

Miss Goodwitch nodded. “Go to the locker rooms and change into your combat attire.”

Jaune nodded, swallowing his nerves, and went towards the locker room.

-OOOOO-

As Jaune Arc stepped into the male locker room Ruby Rose spoke up. “He looked nervous.” The kid looked worried about the blonde human. Blake simply returned her gaze to her book and kept reading.

“Do you guys think he will win?” Yang Xiao Long asked, curiosity heavy in her voice.

“No, I don’t think he will.” Nikos replied, making Blake lift her eyes to look at her. She looked conflicted, like she didn’t like what she said.

“What do you mean?” _The Schnee_ asked, clearly shocked.

 _‘It’s pretty easy to see.’_ Blake mused. _‘He conducts himself with false confidence, he slouches constantly and didn’t seem to be able to keep up with Miss Polendina’s history teachings… but then again, most of the class couldn’t either._ ’ She flipped a page over. _‘He constantly walks flatfooted, which won’t help in case of a surprise attack and he seemed reluctant to fight Winchester. Even he doesn’t think he can win. I don’t know how he got accepted in-_ ’

“Because he won’t use his Semblance.” Nikos replied, halting Blake’s thought process.

“His Semblance?” Lie Ren asked, with Nora Valkyrie paying attention.

“I can’t say much because I promised him, but let’s say I saw him take out a Deathstalker almost by himself when he used it.”

_‘Interesting. Someone without much experience with an incredibly strong Semblance.’_

“I hope he can manage to not lose horribly.” Ruby Rose replied as Jaune Arc walked out of the locker room… dressed in sneakers, jeans and a hoodie. _‘At least he has a breastplate.’_

He stepped into the arena and drew his blade as he transformed its sheath into a shield.

Winchester balanced a war mace on his shoulder.

“Are both combatants ready?” Miss Goodwitch asked, getting a nod from both of them. “Begin!”

Winchester charged at Arc with a horizontal swing, which the blonde tried to block with his shield, only to be knocked back, making him drop his flimsy stance.

“As I thought.” She heard Winchester speak as he prepared an overhead swing. “You are just like those Faunus animals, strong when they are with their buddies but weak when they have to step up to the plate.” He swung down his mace, with Arc blocking with his shield and being forced to his knees as Winchester hit him with another overhead swing.

 _‘A human racist. Who would have thought?’_ Blake narrowed her eyes. “I hope Arc beats him.” She muttered, low enough for no one but herself to hear. She looked up at the Aura displays, Arc was in the orange just by blocking and Winchester hadn’t even taken damage. _‘Kind of difficult when he is so outclassed though._ ’ She found herself cheering for him internally.

Then something happened.

Winchester had swung down his mace quickly, only for Jaune to jump to the side faster than _Blake could have done normally_.

That seemed to stun everyone except Arc, who _quickly_ went in and swung his sword at Winchester’s exposed legs, causing his Aura to drop about 10% and for him to get furious. He swung his mace towards Arc.

Blake held out a gasp as she saw Arc’s Aura in the yellow. _‘How did he regenerate it so quickly?’_

“Yeah! Fearless leader! You can do it!” Nora Valkyrie cheered and then another thing happened.

Jaune Arc blocked Winchester’s swing with no problems, killing its momentum. He then grunted pushed with his shield, knocking the racist back.

“Apologize to the Faunus.” She heard Arc speak in a low tone. “They are a people who have gone through a lot, they don’t deserve our scorn.” She hid her smile behind her book as, with that tone of voice, she knew only her, Miss Goodwitch and Winchester listened.

“You are defending those terrorists?!” Winchester growled as he prepared to charge. Arc simply sighed and did something which caused shivers down her spine.

He turned his shield back into a sheath and grabbed it as if it was a second sword. He twisted his blade into a reverse grip and got into an impossibly low stance… The Prowling Panther stance. _Her stance._ But that was impossible, only two people knew that stance. _‘What’s going on?’_ She thought. Her instincts were telling her to run away. They told her she was compromised, someone knew about her. She was going to be found out!

Then she looked into _his_ eyes. They were wide with fear, reluctance, amazement, anger… and determination. They spoke to her. Here this human was fighting for the Faunus’ dignity… _her_ dignity. This human was living proof humans could coexist with Faunus if he was prepared to use his own body to attack a racist in the name of the Faunus. If he could accept the Faunus… then others could… then her dream wouldn’t be a false hope.

So she did something she had never done. She refused to listen to her instincts… “You can do it Arc!” And stood up, side by side with a human to cheer for another.

That was all that was needed. The floodgates opened as soon Nikos, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long and Lie Ren joined in cheering.

-OOOOO-

Jaune had never felt so strengthened. Not when he first transformed into Brave, nor when Pyrrha cheered for him against the Deathstalker. He was amazed with himself. First he dodged with ease Winchester’s attack, then he got an attack in and blocked Winchester’s next attack.

But then he heard him say those horrible things. Jaune never had anything against the Faunus. His family and he always donated money to their local Faunus association back in his hometown. His favorite teacher was a Faunus. The local baker was a Faunus. Hell, most of his sisters’ romantic partners were Faunus.

So he felt offended by those words. People like him were the reason the White Fang got violent in the first place. Now he complains they retaliated after being ostracized even after winning the Faunus Rights Revolution? He asked him to apologize… but he decided to keep insulting the Faunus.

Flashes of protests, rallies, retaliation and fights flashed through his mind, telling him the best form he could assume to deal with this person. A black silhouette got into a low stance with two blades so he imitated it. He turned his shield back into a sheath and reverse-gripped Crocea Mors. Then he heard them.

“You can do it Arc!”

“Yeah Fearless Leader! Beat his ass!”

“You can do it Brave!”

“Come on Jaune!”

“Do it Vomit Boy!”

“You will find victory!”

He felt a surge of power enter him as he narrowed his eyes. If he was honest with himself… he was still a little afraid of Winchester. He had completely destroyed his stance at first and he wasn’t sure if he would do it again… but he remembered the wise words his grandpapa had told him on his deathbed. _‘Bravery isn’t the act of not feeling fear. Bravery is acting for what’s right in spite of it.’_ He charged as Winchester charged at him.

His body moved on its own. It was like he had years of conditioning running through him. He simply avoided the mace by sidestepping for a moment to then slash at Winchester’s stomach while he spun, hitting that same spot with his sheath and hitting it again _breaking_ Winchester’s Aura as it shined brown for a moment before he fell.

“Ha! Take thaaaat.” Jaune managed to say before blacking out and falling to the ground.

-OOOOO-

He woke up to the sound of a door closing. He looked around for a bit, realizing he was in an infirmary of sorts. He looked out the window, the sun setting, giving the sky an orange tinge as darkness quickly swallowed the day.

“Jaune Arc.” He heard and his eyes were drawn towards a pair of amber eyes, almost shining in the darkness that was setting itself on the room. He squinted at her. She had black hair with a black ribbon and the female uniform.

“Blake right?” He asked, with her nodding. “Oh, uh, thanks for cheering for me during the fight. What happened after I blacked out?”

-OOOOO-

Blake looked at him in the eyes with a neutral expression as she closed the distance, sitting on the bed beside his. He seemed curious. _‘Time to test my theory’_. “No problem, you were trying to shut that racist up so I decided to cheer for the morally superior person.”

“Oh, that.” Arc scratched the back of his head. “I kinda got angry… I come from a pretty tolerant town, a lot of people I interacted with during my childhood were Faunus so I got angry.” He frowned and she saw no deceit in his eyes. “People like him are the reason the White Fang turned violent.”

Blake nodded. _‘He seems trustworthy enough… god I hope this doesn’t backfire.’_ “What’s your opinion on the Faunus as a whole?”

“I’m sad they have to deal with discrimination.” Jaune replied, with sadness and anger in his eyes. “Even after they were promised better rights and a fair world they are still ostracized… I guess I would like to help them if I can you know?”

Blake nodded, feeling a little more confident in this. “Do you have any Faunus friends?”

Jaune blushed a little. “Uh no, I knew a lot of them but I never really had friends back home, human or Faunus… nobody wants to play with the small sickly kid you know?”

Blake could see resignation in his eyes and took a deep breath. “How would you feel about having a Faunus friend now?”

He smiled. “It would be awesome… do you know any?” He looked completely oblivious to what Blake was getting at.

She sighed. _‘Of course the first human I can kind of trust in has to be the densest guy on this side of Remnant.’_ “Arc.” She gained his attention as she pulled up her hands to pull at her ribbon, taking it apart and showing her cat ears to him. “I’m the Faunus I’m talking about.”

He blushed as he looked away. “Sorry, didn’t notice, good disguise.” He smiled at her. “And of course I would like to be your friend Blake.” He pulled up his hand and offered it to her. “Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it!”

Blake smirked as she shook his hand. “Do they?”

Jaune laughed. “My mom does!” This caused to share in his laughter.

 _‘Weird… I haven’t laughed like this ever since I joined the White Fang… coming to Beacon was the right choice._ ’ She tied up her ribbon and got up. “See you later Jaune.” She waved at him.

“Bye Blake, kinda sad you have to hide who you are though.” He smiled at her gently, causing her to get a warm feeling in her stomach.

“Yeah… hopefully I won’t need it in the future.” And with that she left, smiling as she went her way, happy that she now had someone who knew her secret, that weight off her shoulders.


End file.
